Those Little Tweaks & Tuesday Tangents!

Treadmill speed day! I wore my lucky marathon shoes for the speed portion of the workout because they have felt so abandoned lately due to ultra training.

We didn’t sleep super great on Sunday night because our house alarm went off at four in the morning. Andrew had forgotten to lock our door when he took Beretta out that night (which never happens) and there was a huge wind storm that actually blew our door open BUT at first we didn’t know it was the wind that opened the door. So our fight or flight adrenaline response was at an all-time high and I never fell back asleep. I need to stop watching/listening to crime shows because I was freaking out.

I decided I might as well just get up and get my speed workout in for the week. The power bun has returned.

There was a total of 16 minutes of speed and that felt like a lot since I am rarely doing speed anymore. My paces for those intervals ranged between 5:42-6:10 and it really pushed me. I was reminded afterwards how amazing the post-speed workout endorphins are… I’ve missed those.

It’s amazing to me how just little tweaks in our running/thinking can make the biggest difference in our workouts. Yesterday when I started feeling tired and the red stop button was calling my name, I focused on lifting my chest up and taking in a deep breath. That simple tweak in my form and standing taller gave me some positive energy to help me to finish each interval strong.

I switched watches for ultra training! My Suunto started having a lot of issues randomly with freezing and not turning on again (when fully charged) so we hit up Backcountry customer service and they helped us out a lot. We were able to switch over to the Garmin 935. The 935 will last for 24 hours in GPS mode (we needed a watch with a longer battery life) and it has really good reviews so that is why we went for this one. I ordered one of these wrist bands for my Garmin from Amazon to add some color.

I finished my treadmill run and my watch said that I had gone 9.25 miles but then it let me calibrate it to what the treadmill said I did. Hopefully now it will be even closer to what the treadmill says when I use it on treadmill mode. I’ll let you know if it does!

10 push-ups on my toes and then it was time to get the kids up and going for school—> That was harder than my workout;) They were not ready for Christmas break to be over.

Are you sick of all of my snow pictures yet? It snowed for the majority of Sunday and a lot of Monday too. The rest of the week looks clear so there is a chance our 28 miles (in two days) of long runs will get to be outside!

Skye now uses our stools as a walker to get around the house. I’m guessing she will be walking in about 3 more weeks.

It was my sister’s birthday yesterday. My mom, sis and I were able to go out to lunch together kid free (thanks Andrew)!

She requested 180 Tacos and we were all more than happy about dining there.

Her other request for her birthday was to watch TV together in the middle of the day for a little bit without any thoughts about things on our to-do lists. I like her birthday.

The rest of our day included homework, trying not to fall asleep at 5:30 when it got dark outside, having my nephews over so my sis could go on a date with her husband and some work! This week I’ll be running around 65 miles so I’m committed to going to bed at a good time each night!

I’ve got a few tangents to share today:

*Knox loves hanging out with Andrew when he uses the snow blower. He runs through the snow the entire time.

*This chicken spaghetti from Joanna’s cookbook is money. We are in a constant need of carb loading over here.

*In my brother’s post yesterday there is a picture from when we were young and having a picnic. That picnic was in Snow Canyon and we ALWAYS went there for picnics growing up. Snow Canyon happens to be my favorite portion of the St. George Marathon = between those two things, it’s one of my favorite places ever. PS if you haven’t read my brother’s responses to you guys in the comments they are really great… you all asked some awesome questions! This was a text from him;).

*And he doesn’t like it when I pick out all of the M&Ms from our trail mix;)

*Whenever it is Andrew’s turn to hide while playing hide-and-go-seek the kids will grab one of his socks and make Beretta sniff it so she can help them find him:). Beretta finds Andrew in less than 30 seconds every time and I’m sure she would still be able to do that without the help of the sock scent too.

*Skye has Andrew wrapped around her little finger.

*And this is why you and I get along so well… we understand each other.

Andrew and I love asking each other random questions so I’ll make you join in with us on one of them… If you had to live on a ride at Disneyland for one full year without getting off (food and water given to you…), which one would you choose?

Any small tweaks that you make with your running that help you out a lot?

Share a tangent with me… they are my favorite!

What watch are you using for your running? Do you wear it on the treadmill?

Mollie

I was super lucky to be able to do a workout with a more elite runner and during the last mile of the workout she kept telling me to count steps and straighten my arms forward instead of crossing them. Both of those things helped so much! I’m doing a 5k time trial this weekend (because I procrastinated too long and the 5k I was going to do sold out lol) and I’m excited to try counting, straightening my arms and lifting my head!

Definitely Pirates of the Caribbean. And if someone could just hand me food from the Blue Bayou that would be great. :)

I love those tweaks and I can’t wait to hear about how your 5k time trial goes, you are going to do amazing Mollie! Please tell me how it goes afterwards. That is exactly what my brother said (even about Blue Bayou) but what about at night when you have to go down those drops when you are trying to sleep!? BUT the Blue Bayou would make it worth it! Have a beautiful day!

Haha, I think your kids all might be geniuses! Skye using chairs as walkers, and Brooke and Knox using their detective skills to find Andrew—they’re so smart!!

I have the Garmin 220. I usually wear it on the treadmill (mainly because I wear it almost always, except when I’m typing at work) but don’t actually start it while I’m on there.

Tuesday tangent: I’m so thankful for my two good friends JP and Kris (a married couple) who always let me third wheel it with them but never actually make me feel like a third wheel. They watched the National Championship with me last night, and I usually watch that alone every year, so it meant a lot to me that they spent their Monday night eating dinner on the couch and watching a game that they honestly didn’t care about at all.

They really are figuring out life quickly:). JP and Kris sound like the absolute best. I am so glad that they were able to watch with you! Next year come to Utah and watch it with us:). Have a beautiful day Natalie!

Eva

I picked up my new sewing machine today! My old one (26 years old) was racing uncontrollably, and sadly it couldn’t be fixed. Now I’m learning how to operate this new ones compunterized programs. Fun but a bit scary too! It’s quite stormy today here, and after a cup of tea I’m heading out for a run. I’m choosing a loop that’s headwind first. I love snow pictures, I wish we had some snow too. I enjoyed your brothers post too! Have a great day!

26 years… my mom’s lasted about that long too! It’s amazing how long those old machines stay working… I wonder if the new sewing machines will last that long. SO HAPPY you got a new one! I really need to get one, I used to love to sew! I hope your run was great and way to go getting the headwind over first:). Thanks Eva, you too!

Tonya Hancock

I really enjoyed your beother’s guest post, but didn’t leave a comment because I don’t feel Inknow him yet (it took me years before I left you a comment, but now we are practically bestows, right?). Your name comes up at LEAST once a week in our house so I really think I need to meet you in person at least once so that my husband believes this friendship is REAL!

The snow pictures are fantastic – keep ‘em coming. We have had snow flurries exactly once thus far in Nashville. My son was like, “see, mom, it does snow in Tennessee! I told you!” As we have verbally prepared him for virtually no snow, unlike the 5 months of snow we got the last five years in Bulgaria. I miss it so much! What is winter running gear for anyway! I had one pair of Yax Trax that I used for 14 years here, and then went through 3 pairs in 4 winters in Bulgaria!

Using the stool as a walker in genius! Yay Skye!

What is Andrew sorting out? Jelly Belly’s? If so, my favorite is the cinnamon please (red with flecks of yellow).

This is hard – how will we use the bathroom for a year? And sleep? I guess I pick Soarin Over California (is that still there? I have only been to Disneyland California in 2000 and 2005). That way I could sleep, wouldn’t get too dizzy, I am sure there is a phone charger built into the seat…but if it were Disneyland Paris I pick the Ratatouille ride. If it were Disney World I pick the Avatar Flight of Passage or the Kilimanjaro Safari.

My best tweak with running is to take a day off when I am feeling plantar fasciitis pain. More than one day off doesn’t seem to make a difference, but one is just the relief my foot needs.

Tangent – I just had sinus surgery the day after Christmas and after a week could smell (I haven’t been able to smell for years)! But 4 days later the smell went away again. Healing takes up to 3 weeks! Luckily they let me run after 6 days, which was a nice surprise.

I use the Apple Watch series 3. I use the indoor running mode on the treadmill and it works great. I use the indoor running on an indoor track and it works like crap. So I use the outdoor running mode on the indoor track and it works great. I think they should rename the choices treadmill running and RUNNING. That should work. My newest favorite feature of the Apple Watch? Swipe up and hit the phone icon and it will instantly ping your phone (no having to find another device and log into find my iPhone)! Sweet idea.

This makes me so happy that I am a part of your weekly discussions… our friendship is real and I would LOVE to meet in real life! OH I bet you miss Bulgaria a lot, the winters sound a bit different:). Yep, those are jelly beans! Oh I forgot about the bathroom issues and sleep… that’s why I am choosing the jungle cruise ha. I WANT TO GO TO DISNEYLAND PARIS! I AM SO HAPPY that the surgery went so well. I didn’t know you haven’t been able to smell for YEARS! Oh I love that idea… that would save me big time. Have a wonderful day Tonya!

The last time I was at Disney was at age 7 and I don’t remember any of the rides except Dumbo; so I have no idea. That makes me so sad to say but I cannot imagine flying in circles on Dumbo for a year-UGH and ICK! HA! Have a great day!

Eleanor

So, this is so random but it is so crazy to me that you happened to say today that you got a new watch band on Amazon. Because, yesterday I was getting dressed for my run and somehow BROKE my Garmin watch band. And of course I am 6 days from my goal race! So I kind of freaked out for a minute and then was like oh let me search amazon! Boom. Watch bands. So I ordered one and now I wonder what on earth I did before amazon!!

Small tweak with my running->when I start getting tired, I try to push my shoulders down and reach my neck to the sky. I feel like my shoulders are always the part that gets tired first for me because I tend to tense them into my neck, so that has really helped relax my shoulders and remind them that they are not tired;)

I actually wear a Garmin Forerunner 230 and my Apple Watch on all my runs. I know, I know. It is a little crazy to have a watch on each arm. But. My Garmin is important for accuracy and the ability to program workouts. And my apple watch is important because it allows me to have the safety to call someone if something happened on a run, also is my source of music hooked with my AirPods, it does my HR (which my Garmin doesn’t), and allows me to get credit for my daily rings;) When I started wearing both I didn’t intend to keep wearing both, but it works for me, and I’m happy to run with one on each arm now. Garmin will always be my jam for runs and just knowing its accurate, but not having to carry my phone while still having the safety of being able to make calls is super important to me.

This has become a really long comment, haha. Hope you have a wonderful day Janae. And my estimation is more like 1 week with that little walker Skye ;)

NO WAY!! What race is it? I’m cheering for you and I’m so glad you can get the band before the race. Seriously, Amazon makes life so much easier ha. That makes total sense to me why you would wear both! I think you have the perfect setup actually… you are hitting all of the important things. Thanks Eleanor and I think you might be right! Have a wonderful day.

Lisa

Here’s a confession that I rarely share…. I’m not a fan of Disneyland. I feel like it’s too expensive and way too crowded. I grew up in Ohio and went to King’s Island and loved that place. I like Six Flags, but not a fan of D-land. (Please don’t hate me!) It’s super sad too because my husband loves it, but I just don’t get the excitement….
Your pictures of the snow makes me FREEZE!! My daughter and son-in-law are up in Provo and she is NOT having fun. She’s an AZ girl at heart!

Lisa, I COULD NEVER HATE YOU! Did you hear they are raising it another 25% once the Star Wars portion opens up… so it is getting even pricier! We are trying to go one more time before that happens because once it goes up even more… yeah, it’s going to be hard to get there. I love Six Flags too! Your daughter and her husband are up here?! Yeah, it is SOOOO bad right now! I bet she is missing the sunshine big time. Have a wonderful day Lisa and get some sun for me!

Sara K

Hi! I don’t always comment but have read your blog for many years now. I am loving your new post marathon PR challenge! I have been feeling a little burned out with my typical training for a fall half marathon. I’ve had reoccurring IT band issues and just wasn’t feeling it this last year. I randomly came across this race https://www.ohiooutside.com/salt-fork/ it’s a 10.4 mile trail run. I’ve never run trails before and it my area (Ohio) I have to do some driving to train but I am really excited to sign up and do something totally out of my wheel house this year! So I’ve even more excited to follow your trail running journey!

SARA. This makes me so so happy. Isn’t it so fun to try something completely different and new? Please keep me updated with how your training goes and enjoy the sign up and getting out of your comfort zone. I hope your IT band is nice to you this year!

Corey

Your sister is a master birthday celebrator–lunch and TV in the daytime? I think any mom would agree to that party :)
Living on a Disneyland ride for a year? That is so tough! I’m tempted to say Pirates of the Caribbean because it’s one of my favorites, but I couldn’t deal with it being dark so much. Maybe Big Thunder Mountain Railway? Definitely NOT the teacups or Small World, LOL.
I discovered that my Aftershokz headphones lose contact when I lower my chin too much, and that reminded me to look forward, not down, when running. I breathe better and my muscles don’t get so tight.
Tangent: it’s very hard for me to pay over $100 to run a half marathon. I’d rather have a smaller medal and less swag, with the entry fee going more toward course logistics and safety, instead of paying a lot (to me).
Have a great Tuesday!

Hahaha she knows exactly how to party! Hahaha one of my brothers said he would choose teacups and Brooke said Small World;). Oh I love that tweak… that little thing makes the biggest difference. I am right there with you… over $100 for a half is way too much. There are some around here for like $60 and that makes me happy! I hope you have a beautiful day Corey!

Kristin

Marissa

I’m excited to see how you like your new running watch! I should order some fun bands :) I have the Fenix 5s, which I love but I wish I would have gotten one that I can store music on. I really dislike running with a phone to connect my music to. I usually only use music during races and I love going with nothing extra! I’ve used it on the treadmill but it’s still not super accurate.

A tangent: I thought I saw a skunk cross the bike path, so I moved over super fast and tweaked my ankle. It was just a cat and my ankle seems to be doing okay. Ha. I ran a 10k race this last weekend and I’m excited to use that as sort of a starting point on what I can do for these shorter distance races.

The Fenix 5 is SO nice! I am so sorry about your ankle… if it makes you feel better I see sticks all of the time on the trail and think they are snakes! Way to go on your 10k last weekend and I’m excited to see what 2019 has in store for you!

Okay, so it’s infusion day for my son so you get 3-for-1 on the Disney answer (him, his nurse, and me 😂). We all came to the consensus that we’d probably go with Pirates of the Caribbean. Yeah the drops would be annoying for sleeping, but you could stretch out in the boat and most of it moves slowly enough and it doesn’t have an annoying song. But then someone above said Soarin’ Over California and I almost changed my mind, but I don’t think I could sit upright with legs dangling for 365 days straight. The same person also mentioned the Ratatouille ride at Disneyland Paris and we were really lucky to be able go there a couple years ago and do that ride and I agree that if it were in the US, I’d take that over PotC, especially if I got food from Remi’s. 😉 What would you pick? I tried to look for your answer. Did I miss it?

My tangent for today? Hm? Well, it’s kind of Disney related. My son (the one we’re at the hospital with today, doing an infusion) is 14 and also qualifies for Make-a-Wish. We’ve been asking him lately what he might like to do and it’s stressing him out because he wants to take a trip but to somewhere that everyone would like (family of 6, 4 kids, ages 21-14) but we keep telling him it’s HIS “wish.” He says “probably a Disney trip” but we’re a Disney family so I’m like “Dude…seriously, Dad and I will take you to Disney. If you could go ANYWHERE…where would you go?” So then he’s like, “Disney World?” Again, we used to live back east, have flown back for family reunions and hit DW, so I’ll say, “DUDE! For real?” A couple times he’s mentioned the Lego House in Denmark (Legos are this kid’s life…he wants to be a lego designer when he grows up), but then he’ll say “But I’m the only one who’d like that.” And all I can think is, “Your life is HARD. Every single day. So even if that were true, which is doubtful because I personally think it would be awesome to go to the Lego House in FREAKING DENMARK, who cares buddy? The whole point of Make-a-Wish is that you get something to sort of make up for all the cruddy stuff you put up with on the regular. Everyone else can suck it up or stay home.” So, yeah. We’re trying to get him to start thinking about that so we can start applying soon but he keeps dodging us. Random, long, first world tangent right there. Haha! 🤷‍♀️

Michelle, What is going on with your son? I AM so incredibly sorry about what you are all going through and you will be in my prayers. Keep me updated with how you are doing and happy birthday to your daughter!
I NEED TO GO TO DISNEYLAND PARIS!!! Very good answers… Andrew is with you on the Pirates. I would choose the jungle cruise! It’s outside, slow and plenty of room to sleep!

I’m going to buy Brooke one of your castle necklaces, you are SO talented!

The other day when I was tired and feeling like total mud on my run I shifted my thinking to one small thing–what are your elbows doing? As I paid attention, I kept on saying to myself “elbows STRAIGHT BACK! Elbows STRAIGHT BACK!” And I focused on making this tweak–by the end of my run I felt GREAT, not tired and beating up on myself for being slow/annoying/feeling-like-mud, etc. Small tweaks. One thing at a time. ONE area to focus on that is somehow INSTEAD OF focusing on “the run” but still PART OF “the run.” It works!!!
I use my trusty old Garmin 235 for running–and ONLY for running. I wear a Polar A370 the rest of the time. I’m sure that I am severely under-utilizing my Garmin for my runs, but right now I like being able to look down at my wrist and see how far I’ve run and I like the programmable alarms for intervals–it helps keep me working steady and even for my 1 min walk/1 min run intervals. When I need to make my Garmin do more, I’m sure I’ll research and figure out how to make it do more!
Tangents for you:
–I have four bracelets from Alex & Ani that I have worn every teaching day last semester (well, I wore three of them every day last term and bought myself #4 as a treat for finishing the term and I am including it in my little stack for this term). I am not a BIG jewelry person, but I love these little bracelets–Tom gave me one of them, one of my besties gave me the second, and I bought the third–a charm of a compass–as a visual reminder when things get stressful to not let go of my own internal “true north” and to stick to my greater purpose in life. I am wearing them today, which is my first teaching day of the semester.
–On days when I teach on campus I take the “first and second breakfast” approach to my meals so that I have some smaller meals four times a day. It helps me keep more even energy between working out in the morning, a weekly meeting I have with a counselor, office hours, teaching, and now–teaching an evening RPM class. Second breakfast is ALWAYS the bacon & gruyere sous vide egg bites form Starbucks because I love them and the fat and protein keeps me pretty full for a good handful of hours. I think I need to find a good “hack” on pinterest or something so I don’t spend ALL of my money at Starbucks…
–I bought these leggings (https://www.reebok.com/us/lux-bold-7-8-legging—chalked-movement/CZ9495.html) on a big time sale right before Christmas and wore them last Thursday for the first time teaching a spin class, and I AM OBSESSED WITH THEM. They’re cute, and very lightweight, and they handle sweat well, and they’d also make great crosstraining workout tights because they can handle lunges and deep squats very well without any of the ‘see through’ problems.
–With how many jobs I have to work right now to stay afloat I put my fist down on something–claiming Sundays this semester as NO WORK days. I will not go to the running store. Instead I will enjoy Sundays as my day for my long run without rushing, and for meal prepping the way I love to, and for getting myself set up…AND for getting to one of my most favorite yoga classes at the studio near me. Last semester meal prep was inconsistent and I hate how I had to find small scraps of time to get things-related-to-life-instead-of-a-job done, and though I have to work too much right now, it can all be OK if I take a stand for time for myself. Without that, a serious part of self-care, balance, and stress management is missing. So I am claiming my time!!!

That’s all! I hope that the snow out there is more beautiful and less annoying and that you have the best day! :)

I’m going to try out Elbows Straight Back! Thanks Stephanie. Oh I am so glad you bought yourself the 4th! I love those bracelets! Just clicked on the link and those leggings are adorable… I want them! Good for you to take that time for you. I think that you need that time to take care of yourself. Sundays are the best!!

John

We love Disneyland, been there 5 times. I would go with Buzz Lightyear. It’s tame enough you could catch some Zzzzzz’s and it would help hone my skills so I could finally beat my video-game savvy kids.

I’ve used a Garmin Vivoactive and Vivoactive HR. I just began using a Garmin 935 that I got for free as my 30 year Anniversary tenure gift at work. Loving it so far. Try pairing it up with the running dynamics pod – kind of fun to check out all the info it tracks. I currently do not own a treadmill.

As far as running tweaks – my fave is from the Deena Kastor book – when i start laboring I simply look up a bit and pay attention to the beat of my footsteps while admiring the scenery around me.

Thank you for reminding me of that tweak from Deena Kastor…. that whole book is SO good! YES to Buzz Lightyear… Andrew will love your Answer. Okay, I have never looked at the running dynamics pod until just now–> I NEED THAT!!!

Everybody will be different and data changes with pace, terrain, etc… so take it with a grain of salt. For instance my cadence and stride rate go up with increased (faster) pace and my vertical ratio and ground contact time go down, which makes sense.

Have fun!

Stacey

Your brother’s post yesterday was outstanding!
I have only been to Disneyland once, but rode the Indiana Jones ride four times during that visit (it was raining and not crowded at all).
One tweak I have made with running (that I know you already do) is to take my scheduled “off” days COMPLETELY off. No cross training, no excessive walking, nothing. I stretch a bit, but that’s it.
A tangent… I traveled to Russia for a student ambassador program when I was 12 years old. I was sick nearly the entire three weeks of my trip. Turns out, I had appendicitis! I came home and days later, my appendix ruptured and I spent the next two weeks in the hospital. Looking back, I am very lucky I came out of all that alive, honestly.
Another funny tangent because that one was kinda heavy — my little guy still isn’t walking, and he is a month older than Skye. I think he secretly reads your blog and is waiting for his buddy, Skye, to walk before he starts walking, himself ;)

That is so considerate of him to wait until Skye starts to walk;) . Hahaha I sure wish we could have a playdate! You had appendicitis while you were away in Russia!? I am so glad everything worked out to be okay! Oh I am right there with you on that need for one full day off for nothing. Thank you, I agree and I think he needs to post more often! Have a wonderful day Stacey!

Michelle

Happy Birthday to your Sis and loved your brother’s post yesterday. His sense of humor and positivity remind me a lot of you and it’s great that you two are so close even though you were 9 years apart. Skye is so close to walking!

Alicia

Working on a positive mindset has helped tremendously! I loved reading Deena Kastors book- that has helped me a lot! I’m listening to “North” (another recommendation from you so thank you :)) and Jenny asked Scott “why aren’t I fast” and he said “because you don’t like pain.” This was mind blowing to me because I’ve asked myself the same question (and I also don’t like pain)! This is the first year I’m working on speed- so I’m preparing to get uncomfortable ;) I’ve given birth to two beautiful girls and those experiences have helped me learn to believe in myself. I can do hard things!

Andrea

Apple Watch – I use it for everything from treadmill runs to walks to swims. And during my running I always use your little mental tricks … today was “I feel okay right NOW so don’t think about what’s to come… just focus on right now.”